Stock Alert: Starbucks Spikes 4%

Shares of Starbucks Corporation (SBUX) are climbing more than 4% Thursday morning despite the market opened in red after the jobless claims hit a record of 6.65 million for the last week. There are no company-specific news that drove the stock up.

SBUX is currently trading at $65.15. It has been trading in the range of 50.02- $99.72 in last 52 weeks.

U.S. Factory Orders Unexpectedly Unchanged In February

A report released by the Commerce Department showed new orders for U.S. manufactured goods were virtually unchanged in the month of February.

The Commerce Department said factory orders edged down by less than a tenth of a percent to $497.4 billion in February after falling by 0.5 percent to $497.5 billion in January. Economists had expected orders to rise by 0.2 percent.

Factory orders came in nearly unchanged as a 1.2 percent jump in orders for durable goods was offset by a 1.2 percent slump in orders for non-durable goods.

The Commerce Department said shipments of manufactured goods edged down by 0.2 percent in February following a 0.6 percent decrease in January.

Inventories of manufactured goods also fell by 0.4 percent in February after slipping by 0.3 percent in the previous month.

With inventories and shipments both falling, the inventories-to-shipments ratio in February was unchanged from January at 1.40.

U.S. Construction Spending Unexpectedly Slumps 1.3% In February

A report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday showed an unexpected decrease in U.S. construction spending in the month of February.

The Commerce Department said construction spending slumped by 1.3 percent to an annual rate of $1.367 trillion in February after spiking by 2.8 percent to an upwardly revised rate of $1.385 trillion in January.

The pullback came as a surprise to economists, who had expected construction spending to climb by 0.6 percent following the 1.8 percent jump originally reported for the previous month.

The unexpected drop in construction spending reflected notable decreases in spending on both private and public construction.

Spending on private construction tumbled by 1.2 percent to an annual rate of $1.026 trillion, as spending on residential construction slid by 0.6 percent and spending on non-residential construction plummeted by 2.0 percent.

The report said spending on public construction also plunged by 1.5 percent to an annual rate of $340.9 billion, with spending on educational and highway construction both showing significant drops.

Despite the monthly decrease, the Commerce Department said total construction spending in February was up by 6.0 percent compared to the same month a year ago.

Acuity Brands Q2 Profit Declines, Miss Estimates – Quick Facts

Industrial technology company Acuity Brands, Inc. (AYI) reported Thursday that net income for the first quarter declined to $57.2 million or $1.44 per share from $66.3 million or $1.67 per share in the prior-year quarter.

Adjusted net income for the quarter was $73.1 million or $1.84 per share, compared to $79.0 million or $1.99 per share in the year-ago quarter.

Net sales for the quarter declined 3.5 percent to $824.2 million from last year’s $854.4 million.

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $1.91 per share on revenues of $808.11 million for the quarter. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

Looking ahead, President and CEO Neil Ashe said, “Due to demand and other uncertainties, the near-term economic impact of COVID-19 cannot be reliably quantified at this time, and the impacts on our full year fiscal 2020 results and beyond are therefore uncertain.”

Stock Alert: Shopify Falls 8% After Suspending FY20 Outlook

Shares of Shopify Inc. (SHOP) are losing more than 8 percent in Thursday’s trading at $353.58. The shares have traded in a range of $190.38 to $593.89 in the past 52 weeks.

Wednesday, Shopify said it is suspending its financial outlook for full year 2020 due to the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. The Canada-based e-commerce company plans to announce its financial results for its first quarter on Wednesday, May 6, 2020.

Shopify said that despite the global economic disruption triggered by COVID-19, it expects to report revenue and adjusted operating income for the first quarter within or ahead of the range of expectations provided on February 12, 2020. The company noted that it ended 2019 with momentum that continued into January and February of 2020.

Shopify further said that in response to COVID-19, it has extended a 90-day free trial to all new standard plan signups, made gift cards available on all plans and for all merchants, and implemented local in-store/curbside pickup as well as delivery for POS merchants.

The company has also made a $200 million commitment for Shopify Capital while fast-tracking expansion to core geographies, and provided multiple online resources to support merchants.

Stock Alert: Zuora Up More Than 2%

Zuora, Inc. (ZUO) shares are rising as the company announced the launch of the Subscribed Strategy Group or SSG.

Shares are currently at $7.99, up 2.17 percent from its previous close of $7.82. The enterprise software company’s shares have been down since mid-March as it projected a loss for the first quarter lower than analysts’ expectations. Further, the coronavirus pandemic also has hurt the shares.

For the 52-week period, the shares have traded in a range of $6.21-$23.04 on an average volume of 1,522,420.

Turks' card spending plunged 31% in week to March 27

ISTANBUL, April 2 (Reuters) – Turkish credit and debit card spending fell to 13.5 billion lira ($2.03 billion) in week to March 27, decreasing 31% from a week earlier, Turkish central bank data showed on Thursday.

Card spending for clothing and accessories fell to 370 million lira in week to March 27 from 1.63 billion lira two weeks ago, the data also showed.

Death toll from coronavirus outbreak in Turkey reached 277 on Wednesday while Ankara urges people to stay at home.